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| -Signs, Portents, and the Weather- |
| Now it's Solar Warming: Climate change hits Mars |
| 2007-04-30 |
| Mars is being hit by rapid climate change and it is happening so fast that the red planet could lose its southern ice cap, writes Jonathan Leake. Scientists from Nasa say that Mars has warmed by about 0.5C since the 1970s. This is similar to the warming experienced on Earth over approximately the same period. Since there is no known life on Mars it suggests rapid changes in planetary climates could be natural phenomena. The mechanism at work on Mars appears, however, to be different from that on Earth. One of the researchers, Lori Fenton, believes variations in radiation and temperature across the surface of the Red Planet are generating strong winds. In a paper published in the journal Nature, she suggests that such winds can stir up giant dust storms, trapping heat and raising the planetÂ’s temperature. FentonÂ’s team unearthed heat maps of the Martian surface from NasaÂ’s Viking mission in the 1970s and compared them with maps gathered more than two decades later by Mars Global Surveyor. They found there had been widespread changes, with some areas becoming darker. |
| Posted by:Fred |
| #17 It's the damn mars rover I tell ya. Isn't that technically an SUV? Either that or those damn martians not caring about the environment again. |
| Posted by: Broadhead6 2007-04-30 20:33 |
| #16 Maybe we should pack up some rockets with algae and send them on thier way to help the process out. Include AlGore and you can still note with surety that there's no intelligent life in Mars |
| Posted by: Frank G 2007-04-30 18:48 |
| #15 While Al Gorilioni is running his eco-religion global warming scam, other more thoughtful people are thinking about solar output cycles, both short term (11 years) and long term (order of 1500 years). In addition I have not seen too much work yet on how the earth's magnetosphere plays into climate change. The magnetosphere decreases, the charge distribution changes on earth. This affects thunderstorms (redistributor of charges), whose associated clouds affect so-called global warming. Also, a decreased magnetosphere will allow more high energy particles to strike Earth. At any rate, monitoring things on Mars is a good thing, just to allow a bigger picture of the whole thing. If you wish, however, to still purchase indulgences in the form of carbon credits, I, as Rantburg's Resident Imam, will still accept them. It is very easy to do. Just go to the Paypal button on the Burg's main page and click and give to Fred. Nothing to it, and you will feel good after you do it. |
| Posted by: Alaska Paul 2007-04-30 17:10 |
| #14 But, but, but, this can't be true! There's no one on Mars to tax or buy my carbon credits! |
| Posted by: Al Gore 2007-04-30 12:03 |
| #13 This is actually pretty good news. While Earth heating up maynot be good but all of the major ideas of teraforming Mars has started with melting a good portion of the ice caps to release the oxygen and heat up the planet. Maybe we should pack up some rockets with algae and send them on thier way to help the process out. |
| Posted by: C-Low 2007-04-30 10:52 |
| #12 Shouldn't we be doing somehing to save the Martian polar bears ? |
| Posted by: wxjames 2007-04-30 09:30 |
| #11 Not a bad idea. We can send him on the B-Ark. |
| Posted by: ed 2007-04-30 09:29 |
| #10 I blame Al Gore for not visiting and cooling down the planet with his GoreEffect™. |
| Posted by: DarthVader 2007-04-30 09:24 |
| #9 Since there is no known life on Mars it suggests rapid changes in planetary climates could be natural phenomena. It's sad that this doesn't go without saying. |
| Posted by: bigjim-ky 2007-04-30 09:13 |
| #8 So much for the "global warming" snakeoil hucksters on earth. |
| Posted by: JohnQC 2007-04-30 08:54 |
| #7 I think it's Spirit and Opportunity's fault. |
| Posted by: Eric Jablow 2007-04-30 08:35 |
| #6 But the site hasn't found any near-earth objects since 2004. Funding cut off? |
| Posted by: Bobby 2007-04-30 06:07 |
| #5 Found one in 2001. |
| Posted by: Bobby 2007-04-30 06:03 |
| #4 Joe, two of them in the span of several years over Guam? Coincidence or a cosmic conspiracy? :-) |
| Posted by: twobyfour 2007-04-30 02:18 |
| #3 Joe is Truth©. No links necessary. |
| Posted by: Seafarious 2007-04-30 01:27 |
| #2 Where's the link Joe? |
| Posted by: Ulising Panda2016 2007-04-30 00:48 |
| #1 At the same time that "Earth's Twin" was discovered = widely reported last week, a large object [IMO estimated size 10-15 miles wide] flew relatively close to Earth, fast enuff to be on fire but "slow" and "low" enuff to see rough rocky dimensions. Over the Guam-WESTPAC region. Reminds me of another "close one" reported by the RUSSIANS ala PRAVDA several yarns back BUT NEVER REPORTED ON US-WESTERN MEDIAS - LEFT A SNAKIN' SMOKE TRAIL THRU EARTH'S LOWER ATMOSPHERE, OVER GUAM'S UNIVERSITY OF GUAM COMPLEX-AREA. |
| Posted by: JosephMendiola 2007-04-30 00:22 |